The marriage allowance will cost more than the bedroom tax saves

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As the BBC have reported:

Prime Minister, David Cameron, has confirmed that the government will bring in a tax break for married couples before the next election in 2015.

The proposals suggest that around four million couples could benefit from a £1,000 transferable tax allowance from 2015.

Under the scheme, married couples on basic rate tax pay as well as around 15,000 couples in civil partnerships, would be eligible to claim this tax allowance.

 So, that's near enough 4 million at £200 - because a £1,000 transferable allowance is not worth £1,000, it's worth the tax on it - which is £200.

And that comes to £800 million that this might cost. But let's be generous - some won't claim it (most likely those on low income). So maybe it will only really cost £600 million.

The bedroom tax is estimated to affect 660,000 people in the UK - two thirds of whom have a disability. The total notional saving will be around £500 million.

In other words this allowance that's a  sop to a 1950s view of Britain is to be paid for by disabled people, children who're forced from schools and by the disruption of communities.

That's neoliberal Britain.


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